Stateline Western Australia

Unlocking The Mysteries Of Alzheimers

Now to the phenomenon known as a senior moment. Is it just a normal and harmless sign of ageing or the start of something more sinister?

Scientists in Perth have been working on a diagnostic test they hope will answer that question, detecting the devastating condition Alzheimer's disease at its earliest stage. Claire Moodie has the story.

CLAIRE MOODIE: This may look like a kindergarten but it's actually the older generation who are being cared for here. These children have been brought in by their parents to spend time with dementia sufferers. It's a kind of alternative therapy.

The eroding of the personality. The person's no longer the person you know. It's so hard.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Karen Arnold is one of a growing number of Western Australians, struggling to cope with losing a parent bit by bit.

There's no text book. There's nothing that says it's going to happen in these 10 steps at this rate.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Tragically caring for someone with dementia is becoming one of the country's least exclusive clubs. 22,000 West Australians have been diagnosed with the disease, which attacks the brain, leading to memory loss and personality changes.

Jenny Day can vouch for the heartache. She's been forced to put her mother in this secure nursing home.

JENNY DAY: Before this home she was... two homes ago, it was not a secure unit and she walked out and was heading and was on the edge of Mitchell Freeway.

CLAIRE MOODIE: She's a regular visitor here.

JENNY DAY (to mother): Hi, mum. How are you, beautiful? How are you?

CLAIRE MOODIE: Even though Ivy Day hasn't spoken a word for the last five years.

JENNY DAY: I don't know what's going on in mum's mind. So my thing is that I just tell her I love her.

CLAIRE MOODIE: What's alarming is that this is a condition that's on the brink of an even bigger explosion, due to a combination of an ageing population and health problems including obesity.

PROF RALPH MARTINS, MCCUSKER FOUNDATION: We are going to have a huge epidemic on our hands not just in Australia, from 200,000 to over 750,000 in 30 years, but throughout the world to as high as 100 million which is what is expected.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Perth-based scientist Ralph Martins is one of those who believes we're stampeding towards a major health disaster. He spent the last 25 years trying to unlock the mysteries of the disease for which there's still no cure.

He's been recognised internationally since discovering that a build up in the brain of a toxic protein called beta amyloid leads to Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia.

RALPH MARTINS: These here on the left panel are the Alzheimer's brains and the red that we see here represents the amyloid that's building up.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Currently these damaging deposits can only be detected through an expensive brain scan but Professor Martins is trying to develop a blood test that would pick up Alzheimer's at its earliest stage, before there's been irreversible brain damage.

DOCTOR WITH OLDER FEMALE PATIENT: Now the name of our Queen?

FEMALE PATIENT: Queen Elizabeth II.

DOCTOR: Very good. And who is supposed to be the next king or Queen after her?

FEMALE PATIENT: Charles.

DOCTOR: Good.

CLAIRE MOODIE: As part of the study, the foundation's team in Perth and counterparts in Melbourne have been monitoring 1,100 volunteers.

FRANK SCHAPER, ALZHEIMER'S AUSTRALIA WA: We do not diagnose this problem early enough. People often find that the diagnosis takes place at a time when they're in crisis or in difficulty.

CLAIRE MOODIE: The ultimate aim is that by diagnosing the disease early patients can be treated earlier and with a greater chance of success but the plan also hinges on the continuing search for a cure.

FRANK SCHAPER: The drugs we have retard progress; so they slow it down. And that's all we have at the moment. Now, there are clearly some drug developments that are happening at the moment that may offer a better opportunity, a longer time period of retardation, maybe even a cure.

CLAIRE MOODIE: But while research into effective medication continues, Professor Martins believes a diagnostic test could at least act as an early warning for those at risk to change their lifestyles.

His research to date has confirmed that a low fat diet plays a major protective role against Alzheimer's as does regular exercise and mental stimulation.

But even with the bleak forecasts of an epidemic, the Professor and his team have been surviving on a shoe-string budget.

The foundation has received limited funding from the CSIRO for the study of 1,100 volunteers and even that runs out another the end of the year.

RALPH MARTINS: We were awarded $1 million a year for three years for this cohort as opposed to $US60 million to our US colleagues for a cohort of 800.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Professor Martins is appealing to the State and Federal Governments and the corporate sector for funding to finish what he started.

JENNY DAY (to mother): Mum, let's have some lunch, hey.

CLAIRE MOODIE: It's a plea being supported by those who already are living with the disease.

JENNY DAY: I just don't want an Australia or even Perth where every second or third person has this disease. I would like to work on the cure so that my children won't ever, ever have to do this.

FRANCES BELL: Claire Moodie with that story.

Now to the phenomenon known as a senior moment. Is it just a normal and harmless sign of ageing or the start of something more sinister?

Scientists in Perth have been working on a diagnostic test they hope will answer that question, detecting the devastating condition Alzheimer's disease at its earliest stage. Claire Moodie has the story.

CLAIRE MOODIE: This may look like a kindergarten but it's actually the older generation who are being cared for here. These children have been brought in by their parents to spend time with dementia sufferers. It's a kind of alternative therapy.

The eroding of the personality. The person's no longer the person you know. It's so hard.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Karen Arnold is one of a growing number of Western Australians, struggling to cope with losing a parent bit by bit.

There's no text book. There's nothing that says it's going to happen in these 10 steps at this rate.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Tragically caring for someone with dementia is becoming one of the country's least exclusive clubs. 22,000 West Australians have been diagnosed with the disease, which attacks the brain, leading to memory loss and personality changes.

Jenny Day can vouch for the heartache. She's been forced to put her mother in this secure nursing home.

JENNY DAY: Before this home she was... two homes ago, it was not a secure unit and she walked out and was heading and was on the edge of Mitchell Freeway.

CLAIRE MOODIE: She's a regular visitor here.

JENNY DAY (to mother): Hi, mum. How are you, beautiful? How are you?

CLAIRE MOODIE: Even though Ivy Day hasn't spoken a word for the last five years.

JENNY DAY: I don't know what's going on in mum's mind. So my thing is that I just tell her I love her.

CLAIRE MOODIE: What's alarming is that this is a condition that's on the brink of an even bigger explosion, due to a combination of an ageing population and health problems including obesity.

PROF RALPH MARTINS, MCCUSKER FOUNDATION: We are going to have a huge epidemic on our hands not just in Australia, from 200,000 to over 750,000 in 30 years, but throughout the world to as high as 100 million which is what is expected.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Perth-based scientist Ralph Martins is one of those who believes we're stampeding towards a major health disaster. He spent the last 25 years trying to unlock the mysteries of the disease for which there's still no cure.

He's been recognised internationally since discovering that a build up in the brain of a toxic protein called beta amyloid leads to Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia.

RALPH MARTINS: These here on the left panel are the Alzheimer's brains and the red that we see here represents the amyloid that's building up.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Currently these damaging deposits can only be detected through an expensive brain scan but Professor Martins is trying to develop a blood test that would pick up Alzheimer's at its earliest stage, before there's been irreversible brain damage.

DOCTOR WITH OLDER FEMALE PATIENT: Now the name of our Queen?

FEMALE PATIENT: Queen Elizabeth II.

DOCTOR: Very good. And who is supposed to be the next king or Queen after her?

FEMALE PATIENT: Charles.

DOCTOR: Good.

CLAIRE MOODIE: As part of the study, the foundation's team in Perth and counterparts in Melbourne have been monitoring 1,100 volunteers.

FRANK SCHAPER, ALZHEIMER'S AUSTRALIA WA: We do not diagnose this problem early enough. People often find that the diagnosis takes place at a time when they're in crisis or in difficulty.

CLAIRE MOODIE: The ultimate aim is that by diagnosing the disease early patients can be treated earlier and with a greater chance of success but the plan also hinges on the continuing search for a cure.

FRANK SCHAPER: The drugs we have retard progress; so they slow it down. And that's all we have at the moment. Now, there are clearly some drug developments that are happening at the moment that may offer a better opportunity, a longer time period of retardation, maybe even a cure.

CLAIRE MOODIE: But while research into effective medication continues, Professor Martins believes a diagnostic test could at least act as an early warning for those at risk to change their lifestyles.

His research to date has confirmed that a low fat diet plays a major protective role against Alzheimer's as does regular exercise and mental stimulation.

But even with the bleak forecasts of an epidemic, the Professor and his team have been surviving on a shoe-string budget.

The foundation has received limited funding from the CSIRO for the study of 1,100 volunteers and even that runs out another the end of the year.

RALPH MARTINS: We were awarded $1 million a year for three years for this cohort as opposed to $US60 million to our US colleagues for a cohort of 800.

CLAIRE MOODIE: Professor Martins is appealing to the State and Federal Governments and the corporate sector for funding to finish what he started.

JENNY DAY (to mother): Mum, let's have some lunch, hey.

CLAIRE MOODIE: It's a plea being supported by those who already are living with the disease.

JENNY DAY: I just don't want an Australia or even Perth where every second or third person has this disease. I would like to work on the cure so that my children won't ever, ever have to do this.